From Guest Blogger Hannah Thomas: Don’t Buy Compost, Make Your Own!

Compost, the ‘’black gold’’ of the lawns and gardens, is a simple example of how nature brilliantly works. Recycling is a most natural process, and Mother Earth has been doing it for millions of years before men began with the same practice. Whether you have a garden or simple flowerpots at your place, making your own compost will make soil healthier and plants will thrive.

Compost as a daily practice

Besides the facts that compost restores the vitality of the soil, fuels it with nutrients, and makes it more productive, it is a sustainable strategy for reducing waste, in a long run. When an organic material,or green waste, ends up inland fills, a process of decomposing creates greenhouse gas methane, a gas that pollutes and warms the planet.

Instead of mixing the trash, try reusing green waste. Not only it will be the responsible thing to do, but it will reduce household waste. Green waste can be reused in a number of ways. It can be sprinkled in the back yard, or for some vegetable scraps can be put in a water, where they will sprout again. In some time the whole new vegetable will emerge, ready to be consumed again.

Know how to make it

Making compost is actually quite simple. Basically, it is just piling up food scraps and other organic matter into a heap, or if you prefer more of a neat look, get some compost bins.

Before you start piling up, make sure you know what is suitable for composting, and what should never be composted. For example, fruit and vegetable scraps, leaves, branches,  food scraps, coffee and tea bags, eggshells, even egg shredded cardboards, and paper, in general, are good for composting.

Avoid meat or dairy products, perennial weed,  pet poo, baby diapers, glass, plastic or metal products. Compost should be mixed well because it is important to have a proper balance of brown and green, or in other words – carbon and nitrogen. A good compost balance is one-third green and two-thirds brown materials.

Green materials are manures, green leaves and green lawn clippings. Brown materials are branches, dried leaves, paper bags, coffee filters etc. If compost is turned and aired properly, meaning that the balance of air and moisture is right, it will decompose much faster.

Know how to use it

Using compost is same as using any other fertilizer, and it can be used even if it is not fully decomposed.  Usually, compost is used in four common ways. It can be used as moisture holding mulch, soil amendment, compost tea and lawn top dressing.

Used as a mulch, it should be put around the plants in a 2-3 inch layer. As a soil amendment, it should be put in a hole in the ground, 2-4 inches deep, and mix it with the rest of the soil in the planting season.

Compost tea is a liquid part that is released and drained from compost, and according to landscape design Sydney experts, it works magic when simply poured on the flowers and plants. Using compost as a lawn dressing means putting a layer of compost on the surface of the lawn, where eventually it will work its way to the ground. When it is done once or twice a year, there is no need for any kind of industrial fertilizer.

Be responsible

Separating your trash daily in order to make compost is the responsible thing to do, though not always easy. Reusage of green waste is the easy part, but managing  big chunks of wood and branches after the redesigning of the garden, or a storm, takes a different kind of action.

Instead of just dumping it elsewhere, make a call to the company that offers a service of green waste disposal.

Conclusion

Making your own compost is in a certain way making your miniature ecosystem, providing the sustainable and healthy production of food or life itself. It is satisfying and rewarding knowing that you’re not harming the natures way, but supporting it and making it last as long as possible. Composting means being fair and grateful to nature by giving something back, instead of just taking from it. Do your share, compost, and feel good about it.